


A Hickey for Harry

by acesandapricots



Series: Kinktober 2020 [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Friendship, Gossip, M/M, Neelix's Cooking, Secret Relationship, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26801851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acesandapricots/pseuds/acesandapricots
Summary: Harry Kim has a hickey just visible over the neckline of his uniform. He’s teased about it over lunch.
Relationships: Chakotay/Harry Kim
Series: Kinktober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958257
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	A Hickey for Harry

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place sometime in Voyager season 5, after "Bride of Chaotica" (s5e12).
> 
> This fic was written for the Kinktober 2020 challenge (prompt: hickeys).
> 
> My everlasting thanks to [whitmans_kiss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitmans_kiss/) for beta reading!

“Harry, what’s that on your neck?”

Tom looked up at B’Elanna’s question, his mouth full of Neelix’s lunchtime special: Gorandian pot pie with a side of cabbage. The sounds of the crowded mess hall surrounded them - low conversations and the clatter of trays and, behind it all, the sizzles and hisses and the occasional _bang_ coming from the kitchen.

Harry tried his best to meet his friends’ eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Right there, above your collar.” B’Elanna flicked her fork in the general direction of the pip on Harry’s neck.

Tom swallowed. “It looks like some leola root stew is stuck to your skin.”

Harry huffed a laugh. “The only way it can’t taste worse is not to eat it!”

B’Elanna clicked her tongue in concern. “It almost looks like a plasma burn.”

“Yeah, or a bad reaction to a hypospray.” Tom’s own brow furrowed. “You should have the Doc take a look at that.”

“Really, it’s nothing!” Harry waved his hand away, blushing.

“It’s clearly a burst blood vessel.” Seven’s voice cut through the banter, all no-nonsense and confident. All three officers turned to look at her, sitting at the end of their shared table with her own meal of unseasoned cabbage. She returned their gazes, adding, “It adheres to the classic mottled pattern of a petechiae caused by suction, presumably by a pair of lips.”

“I think you’re right, Seven.” A cocky smile grew wide on Tom’s face. “I think Harry has a _hickey_.”

Harry flushed. “It’s not a hickey!”

“Well, what is it, then?” Tom’s eyes were dancing.

Harry sputtered. “It’s… I cut myself shaving!”

“Come on, Harry, that excuse died with the last millennium!”

B’Elanna leaned forward. “Just who’s going around giving you _hickeys_?”

“I thought your date with Jenny Delaney wasn’t until tomorrow night!” Tom’s grin widened. “Or maybe you asked for a new pip for your collar and got something else instead?”

Tom’s teasing smile died away as he noticed Chakotay standing just behind B’Elanna, curls of steam rising from the just-out-of-the-oven pie atop his own lunch tray.

“Er, um…”

B’Elanna was trying desperately not to laugh as Tom’s silver tongue failed him and Harry’s face turned a deep shade of red. Finally, Tom stammered, “Chakotay, I--”

But the commander held up a hand to stop him. “I don’t know yet if I _want_ to know, Lieutenant. Besides, you haven’t annoyed me for a couple months; let’s keep your streak going.” His gaze swept the table. “May I join you?”

B’Elanna’s voice was tight with suppressed laughter as she gestured to the seat between her and Seven. “Go right ahead.” 

Chakotay slid into the empty chair, setting his tray smoothly on the table and picking up his knife and fork. As he settled in, he broke the fallen silence: “I think I’ve heard enough ship’s gossip over the last five years to last another seventy… but, nevertheless, what are we talking about?”

It was Seven who answered. “They were discussing the presence of a ‘hickey’ on Ensign Kim’s neck. It seemed to be a topic of great amusement.”

Tom and B’Elanna exchanged a look across the table. Harry buried his face in his hands. Chakotay let out a light laugh and took a bite of his steaming meal. He swallowed.

“Sounds like there’s an interesting story there.”

Tom tentatively picked up the slack. “We were just getting to that. Harry seems a bit reluctant to share.”

“Of course, if Ensign Kim doesn’t want to share the details of his activities he doesn’t have to.” Chakotay’s words were undercut by a cocky smile. “But where would be the fun in that?”

“Come on, Harry, if you can’t tell _us_ , then who can you tell?” Tom was back on form, having the tacit permission of his commanding officer to keep teasing his best friend. Chakotay continued eating as Tom and B’Elanna tossed ideas across the table, a soft smile on his face and his eyes following every volley.

“I thought I saw Ensign Craig giving you sly looks as you two were checking supply logs--”

“Or it could be Ensign Young, I hear he’s been making his way through the night shift bridge officers.”

“What about your Captain Proton program? Couldn’t you have re-programmed the Queen Arachnid character so it was a hologram?”

“It’s Queen _Arachnia_ and she wouldn’t even look at Buster Kincaid!”

“All I’m saying--”

“Alright! Alright.” Harry let out a huff, cutting off B’Elanna. He couldn’t meet their eyes. “It… it was Ricky. I was spending some time in Sandrine’s last night and, well, things got out of hand.”

“Ricky?!” Tom practically spluttered. B’Elanna was on him in a second, her voice sharp.

“You’re not still attached to that holographic _companion_ , Tom?”

“No! I mean - no. No! Of course not.” Tom cleared his throat. “I’m just surprised, is all.” B’Elanna continued to stare him down, and he added, “Shouldn’t the holodeck safety protocols have prevented this?”

“Perhaps our recent encounter with the photonic life-forms altered the subroutines,” Seven volunteered.

B’Elanna’s gaze flicked from Tom to Seven. She sighed. “I’ll ask Ensign Vorik to review the matrices this afternoon.”

Chakotay chimed in, swallowing another bite of pie. “I’ll inform the crew that it may be dangerous to use the holodecks, at least until Engineering takes a look.”

“It’s just a hickey,” Harry protested.

Chakotay smiled. “Be that as it may, not all holodeck programs are as… sweet as Sandrine’s.”

Harry flushed, his shoulders slumping.

Lunch ended rapidly after that. A few more minutes of light banter surrounding Tom’s newest “vintage” holonovel interspersed with Seven’s explanations of its narrative inefficiencies, and the friendly group broke apart to return to their duties.

As he left the mess hall, Harry found himself suddenly cornered in an empty alcove.

Chakotay’s hand lingered for just a moment too long on Harry’s arm before it dropped away.

“Are you alright, Harry?”

Harry smiled crookedly. “I’m alright. Just… “ his eyes flicked around before landing on Chakotay’s warm face. He whispered, “Next time, don’t leave a mark.”

Chakotay’s own smile sparkled in his eyes. “No promises, Ensign.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually ship Harry with Chakotay, but this ending is what demanded to be written! I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
